Dr. Karen Norgaard

Karen has spent the last 19 years practicing physical therapy in San Diego County, where she has cultivated a philosophy that centers on an individualized approach to injury and movement dysfunction. Karen holds a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and doctorate in Physical Therapy from the top program in the country at the University of Southern California. She is also a former NCAA athlete, playing soccer for USC and winning a PAC 10 championship. Being drawn to both athletics and medicine from an early age, she found her niche in physical therapy where she is able to leverage deep understanding of biomechanics and kinesiology to help others recover and heal.

Karen approaches therapy through a mechanical diagnostic lense to address each patient’s unique issues. She strives to determine what is driving the symptoms in order to address the underlying root causes and restore optimal function. She believes in empowering patients to heal themselves through mechanical diagnosis, treatment and education. As a former college athlete, she has personally dealt with multiple injuries and understands the complex physical and emotional toll injuries can cause. Her goal is to not only help you feel better now, but to help you live a vital and robust life for as long as you can. Joining ActiveMed’s team to create a new holistic model of addressing root causes will complement Karen’s working philosophy to create health and function.

Karen was born and raised in San Diego, where she has cultivated a love of the outdoors, the ocean, and animals. As a longtime advocate of animal rescue, Karen has fostered over 40 dogs in support of local animal rescues. She has kept 3 of the dogs, now deemed foster failures! If she isn’t playing with her dogs, she will probably be at the beach.